Apparatus and method of scanning and/or printing an image

ABSTRACT

A scanning apparatus and a method thereof include a scanning unit scanning a document and outputting a scanned result, at least one external storage unit detachably attached to the apparatus, at least one internal storage unit, and a controller detecting an attachment state of the external storage unit and storing the scanned result in one of the external storage unit and the internal storage unit according to the attachment state of the external storage unit. The scanning unit of the scanning apparatus is combined with a user scanning unit and a user printing unit into a combination apparatus, and the scanned result is printed in a printing apparatus spaced-apart from the scanning apparatus by a distance, thereby removing cables between the scanning or printing apparatus and a personal computer. Regardless of an attachment state of the external storage unit, the document is scanned in the real time, and the scanning apparatus is commonly used with a plurality of personal computers which are not connected to the scanning apparatus.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of prior application Ser.No. 13/765,751, filed on Feb. 13, 2013, which is a continuationapplication of prior application Ser. No. 13/207,747, filed on Aug. 11,2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,400,668, which is a continuation applicationof Ser. No. 10/673,207 filed Sep. 30, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,027,054in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which claims the benefit ofKorean Patent Application Nos. 10-2002-0067106 and 10-2003-0061056 filedwith the Korea Industrial Property Office on Oct. 31, 2002 and Sep. 2,2003, respectively, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a scanner and a printer, or an apparatuscombined with a scanner to provide a scanning function, and particularlyto, an apparatus and a method of scanning an image and/or printing thescanned image.

2. Description of the Related Art

According to a conventional scanning/printing method, a user operates ascanning application program in a personal computer (not shown). After ascanner (not shown) is connected to the personal computer, a scanningoperation of scanning a document (image or data) is performed, and thescanned document (scanned image or scanned result) is stored in a harddisk (not shown) of the personal computer.

When the document is scanned according to the conventional scanningmethod, the scanner and the personal computer should be physicallyconnected through a parallel cable or a universal serial bus (USB)cable, and the scanned document should be stored in the hard disk of thepersonal computer. In a case that a plurality of personal computers arenot connected to the scanner through a network, it is impossible toperform the scanning operation in the personal computer which is notconnected to the scanner, since the scanning of the document is possiblein only the computer connected to the scanner

Since a user cannot scan the document using the personal computer whichis not connected to the scanner, the user should use the computerconnected to the scanner to store the scanned document in a storagemedium and then connect the storage medium to the personal computerwhich is not connected to the scanner. Moreover, due to the cablesconnected between the scanner and the personal computers used to performthe scanning of the document, surroundings are not neat. Furthermore,manufacturing costs increase, and the increased manufacturing costs areshifted to the user.

According to the conventional scanning/printing method, after thescanned document is stored in the storage medium, the user needs todetach the scanner from the computer to connect a printer to thecomputer in order to print the scanned document stored in the storagemedium.

When the parallel or universal serial bus (USB) cable or a USB hub isused as the cable to connect the scanner or the printer to the computer,the user may not have to detach the scanner or the printer from thecomputer. In this case, the scanned document can be printed through theprinter connected to the computer using a printing function of ascanning application program according to the conventionalscanning/printing method.

However, in order to perform the scanning/printing of the document, thescanning/printing application program should be operated in the computerfor the scanning operation and the printing operation according to theconventional scanning/printing method. Therefore, there are problems inthat the document cannot be scanned or printed without operating thecomputer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to solve the above and/or other problems, it is an aspect ofthe present invention to provide a scanning and/or printing apparatus toscan a document (image or data) or print the scanned document withoutconnecting a scanner/printer to a computer.

It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a scanningand/or printing method to scan a document (image or data) or print thescanned document without connecting a scanner/printer to a computer.

Additional aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth inpart in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious fromthe description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

In order achieve the above and/or other aspects of the presentinvention, there is provided a scanning and/or printing apparatusincluding a scanning unit scanning a document and outputting a scannedresult, a storage unit storing the scanned result inputted from thescanning unit, and a printing unit reading the scanned result from thestorage unit to print the scanned result, wherein the storage unit isselectively connected to one of the scanning unit and the printing unit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a scanning and/orprinting apparatus includes a scanning/printing unit scanning a documentand printing the scanned result, and a plurality of storage unitsstoring the scanned result inputted from the scanning/printing unit,wherein the scanning/printing unit prints the scanned result read fromthe storage units.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a scanningapparatus includes a scanning unit scanning a document and outputting ascanned result, at least one external storage unit detachably attachedto the apparatus, at least one internal storage unit, and a controllerdetecting an attachment state of the external storage unit, and storingthe scanned result in one of the external storage unit and the internalstorage unit according to the attachment state of the external storageunit.

In order achieve the above and/or other aspects of the presentinvention, there is provided a method of scanning and/or printing usingthe scanning and/or printing apparatus of the above embodiment of thepresent invention, the method including causing a storage unit to beconnected to a scanning unit scanning a document and outputting ascanned result, storing the scanned result inputted from the scanningunit into the storage unit, causing the storage unit to be connected toa printing unit reading the scanned result from the storage unit, andprinting the scanned result read from the storage unit in the printingunit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method ofscanning and/or printing using the scanning and/or printing apparatus ofthe above embodiment of the present invention includes scanning adocument in a scanning/printing unit, storing a scanned result in aplurality of storage units, reading the scanned result from the storageunits, and printing the scanned result read from the storage unit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method ofscanning and/or printing using the scanning apparatus of an embodimentof the present invention includes scanning a document and outputting ascanned result in a scanning unit, causing an internal storage unit tobe disposed inside the scanning apparatus and an external storage unitto be detachably attached to the scanning apparatus, detecting anattachment state of the external storage unit to the scanning apparatus,storing the scanned result in the external storage unit according to theattachment state in which the external storage unit is attached to thescanning apparatus, and storing the scanned result in the internalstorage unit according to the attachment state in which the externalstorage unit is not attached to the scanning apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent and more readily appreciated from the followingdescription of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings of which:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams showing a scanning and/or printingapparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing a method of scanning and/or printingusing the scanning and/or printing apparatus shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a scanning and/or printing apparatusaccording to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a method of scanning and/or printingusing the scanning and/or printing apparatus shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a scanning apparatus according toanother embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing a method of scanning and/or printingusing the scanning apparatus shown in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing another operation of scanning an imageaccording to the method shown in FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the presentinvention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elementsthroughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain thepresent invention by referring to the figures.

Hereinafter, a scanning and/or printing apparatus and a method thereofwill be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 through 7.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams showing the scanning and/or printingapparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referringto FIGS. 1A and 1B, the scanning and/or printing apparatus includes afirst storage unit 10, first and second connectors 12 and 14, a firstscanning unit 16, and a printing unit 18.

The first scanning unit 16 includes a scanner scanning a document (imageor data) to output the scanned result (scanned document, scanned image,scanned data) to the first storage unit 10. The scanned result isinputted to and stored in the first storage unit 10. The printing unit18 includes a printer printing the scanned result which is read from thefirst storage unit 10. The first storage unit 10 is selectively detachedfrom the first scanning unit 16 and attached to the printing unit 18 ordetached from the printing unit 18 and attached to the first scanningunit 16. The first storage unit 10 is connected to the first scanningunit 16 to store the scanned result, and is detached from the firstscanning unit 16 to be attached to the printing unit 18 to print thescanned result.

The scanning and/or printing apparatus further includes the first andsecond connectors 12 and 14. The first storage unit 10 is connected tothe first scanning unit 16 through the first connector 12 and isconnected to the printing unit 18 through the second connector 14.

The first scanning unit 16 includes a first input/output port 20, ascanning control unit 22, a first display unit 24, and a first key unit26. Alternatively, the first scanning unit 16 may not include at leastone of the first display unit 24 and the first key unit which are shownin FIG. 1A. The scanning control unit 22 outputs the scanning result tothe first storage unit 10 through the first input/output port 20 and thefirst connector 12. The first display unit 24 displays the scanningresult according to a first control signal inputted from the scanningcontrol unit 22. A liquid crystal display (LCD) panel can be used as thefirst display unit 24. The scanning result displayed on the firstdisplay unit 24 may be read and inputted from the first storage unit 10through the first input/output port 20, or inputted from the scanningcontrol unit 22. The first key unit 26 generates a first searchingsignal, a first deleting signal, and a first selecting signal accordingto a user manipulation, and the generated first searching, deleting, andselecting signals are outputted to the scanning control unit 22. Thescanning control unit 22 generates the first control signal to scrollthe scanned result displayed on the first display unit 24 according tothe first searching signal of the first key unit 26 to delete thescanned result according to the first deleting signal of the first keyunit 26, and to select the scanned result according to the firstselecting signal of the first key unit 26.

For example, when a plurality of scanned results are stored in the firststorage unit 10 connected through the first connector 12, the scannedresults may be displayed on the first display unit 24. The user mayselect, search, and delete one of the scanned results using the firstkey unit 26 while watching the scanned results displayed on the firstdisplay unit 24.

The printing unit 18 includes a second input/output port 30, a printingcontrol unit 32, a second display unit 34, and a second key unit 36.Alternatively, the printing unit 18 may not include at least one of thesecond display unit 34 and the second key unit 36 which are shown inFIG. 1B. The printing control unit 32 prints the scanned result, whichis inputted from the first storage unit 10 through the second connector14 and the second input/output port 30. Here, the second display unit 34displays the scanning result which is read and inputted from the firststorage unit 10 through the second connector 14 and the secondinput/output port 30, according to a second control signal inputted fromthe printing control unit 32. The LCD panel may be used as the seconddisplay unit 34. The second key unit 36 generates a second searchingsignal, a second deleting signal, and a second selecting signalaccording to the user manipulation, and the generated second searching,deleting, and selecting signals are outputted to the printing controlunit 32. The printing control unit 22 generates the second controlsignal to scroll the scanned result displayed on the second display unit34 according to the second searching signal of the second key unit 36 todelete the scanned result according to the second deleting signal of thesecond key unit 36, and to select the scanned result according to thesecond selecting signal of the second key unit 36.

For example, when a plurality of scanned results are stored in the firststorage unit 10 connected through the first connector 12, the scannedresults stored in the first storage unit 10 may be displayed on thesecond display unit 24. The user may select, search, and delete at leastone of the scanned results using the second key unit 36 while watchingthe scanned results displayed on the second display unit 24.

In a case that the first storage unit 10, as shown in FIG. 1A or 1B, isa universal serial bus (USB) flash memory stick, a USB input/outputconnector can be used as respective ones of the first and secondconnectors 12, 14, and a USB input/output port can be used as the firstand second input/output ports 20, 30. Since the first and secondconnectors 12, 14 have different structures for the personalcomputer-connecting purpose and for peripheral-connecting purposeregarding the shape, the first and second connectors may have astructure on which a basic USB connector for the personalcomputer-connecting purpose is detachably combined with a connector forthe peripheral-connecting purpose.

A scanning and/or printing method performed using the scanning and/orprinting apparatus of FIGS. 1A and 1B will be explained hereinafter withreference to FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 2.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the method of scanning and/or printingusing the scanning and/or printing apparatus shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B.The method includes operations 60 through 62 of scanning the documentand storing the scanned result, and operations 64 through 68 of readingand printing the scanned result.

The first storage unit 10 is connected to the first scanning unit 16 tostore the scanned result in operation 60. That is, the first storageunit 10 and the first scanning unit 16 are connected to each otherthrough the first connector 12

The first scanning unit 16 stores the scanned result in the firststorage unit 10 in operation 62. The scanning control unit 22 transmitsthe scanned result to the first storage unit 10 through the firstinput/output port 20 and the first connector 12 to store the scannedresult in the first storage unit 10.

The first storage unit 10 storing the scanned result is connected to theprinting unit 18 in operation 64. That is, the first storage unit 10 andthe printing unit 18 are connected to each other through the secondconnector 14.

The printing control unit 32 reads the scanned result from the firststorage unit 10 in operation 66, and the printing control unit 32 printsthe read scanned result in operation 68.

Hereinafter, another embodiment of the scanning and/or printingapparatus will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a scanning and/or printing apparatusaccording to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring toFIG. 3, the scanning and/or printing apparatus of this embodimentincludes 2-1, . . . , 2-N storage units 80, 84, 3-1, . . . , 3-Nconnectors 82, 86, and a scanning and/or printing unit 100. Here, N is apositive integer.

The scanning and/or printing unit 100 includes a scanner to scan thedocument and outputs the scanned result to the 2-1, . . . , 2-N storageunits 80, 84. The 2-1, . . . , 2-N storage units 80, 84 stores thescanned result inputted from the scanning and/or printing unit 100. Thescanning and/or printing unit 100 may have a printer to print thescanned result read from a 2-n storage unit (1<n<N) 80 or 84.

The scanning and/or printing unit 100 further includes the 3-1, . . . ,3-N connectors 82, 86 to connect respective ones of the 2-1, . . . , 2-Nstorage units 80, 84 to the scanning and/or printing unit 100 throughcorresponding ones of the 3-1, . . . , 3-N connectors 82, 86.

The scanning and/or printing unit 100 includes a third input/output port90, a scanning and/or printing control unit 92, a third display 94, anda third key unit 96. The scanning and/or printing unit 100 may notincludes at least one of the third display unit 94 and the third keyunit 96. The scanning and/or printing control unit 92 transmits thescanned result to one or the respective ones of the 2-1, . . . , 2-Nstorage units 80, 84 through the third input/output port 90 and thecorresponding ones of the 3-1, . . . , 3-N connectors 82, 86. Thescanning and/or printing control unit 92 prints the canned result readand inputted from the one or the respective ones of the 2-1, . . . , 2-Nstorage units 80, 84 through the corresponding ones of the 3-1, . . . ,3-connectors 82, 86 and the third input/output port 90.

The third display unit 94 displays the scanned result according to athird control signal inputted from the scanning/printing control unit92. The third display unit 94 also displays the scanned result read andinputted from one of the respective ones of the 2-1, . . . , 2-N storageunits 80, 84 through the corresponding ones of the 3-1, . . . , 3-Nconnectors 82, 86 and the third input/output port 90 according to afourth control signal inputted from the scanning/printing control unit92. The LCD panel can be used as the third display unit 94.

The third key unit 96 generates a third searching signal, a thirddeleting signal, and a third selecting signal according to the usermanipulation, and outputs the third searching, deleting, and selectingsignals to the scanning/printing control unit 92. The scanning/printingcontrol unit 92 generates the third and fourth control signals to scrollthe scanned results displayed on the third display unit 94 according tothe third searching signal inputted from the third key unit 96. Thescanning/printing control unit 92 deletes the scanned result in responseto the third deleting signal inputted from the third key unit 96, andalso selects the scanned result in response to the third selectingsignal inputted from the scanning/printing control unit.

The scanned results stored in the 2-1, . . . , 2-N storage units 80, 84can be displayed on the third display unit 94. The user may select,search, delete at least one of the scanned results using the third keyunit 96 while watching the scanned results displayed on the thirddisplay unit 94.

The scanned results include a first scanned result corresponding to afirst document, a second scanned result corresponding to a seconddocument, and a third scanned result corresponding to a third document.The first, second, third scanned results may be stored in first, second,and third storage units, respectively, according to the third selectingsignal. However, the first, second, third scanned results may be storedin one of the first, second, and third storage units, or in each of thefirst, second, and third storage units according to the third selectingsignal. The third display unit may display each or all of the first,second, and third scanned results according to the third selectingsignal.

The third input/output port 90 performs all functions of the first andsecond input/output ports 20, 30 of FIGS. 1A and 1B. Thescanning/printing control unit 92 performs all functions of the scanningcontrol unit 22 and the printing control unit 32, the third display unit94 performs all functions of the first and second display unit 24, 34,and the third key unit 96 performs all functions of the first and secondkey units 26, 36. If the scanning and/or printing apparatus is anapparatus combined with the printer and the scanner to perform scanningand printing operations, the scanning and/or printing apparatus isrealized with the apparatus shown in FIG. 3 rather than the apparatusshown in FIG. 1A or 1B.

Another scanning and printing method performed with the scanning and/orprinting apparatus shown in FIG. 3 will be explained with reference tothe drawings.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the method performed with the scanningand/or printing apparatus shown in FIG. 3. The method includes anoperation 120 of storing the scanned result in the 2-1, . . . , 2-Nstorage units 80, 84, operations 122 and 124 of reading the scannedresult stored in the 2-1, . . . , 2-N storage units 80, 84, and printingthe read scanned result.

The scanning/printing control unit 92 stores the scanned result in the2-1, . . . , 2-N storage units 80, 84 in operation 120. Thescanning/printing control unit 92 reads the scanned result which isstored in the 2-1, . . . , 2-N storage units 80, 84, from at least oneof the 2-1, . . . , 2-N storage units 80, 84 in operation 122. Thescanning/printing control unit 92 prints the read scanned result inoperation 124.

Hereinafter, another embodiment of the scanning and/or printingapparatus will be explained with reference to FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the scanning apparatus according toanother embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5, thescanning apparatus includes a second scanning unit 140, a controller142, an internal storage unit 144, an external storage unit 146, andfirst and second interface units 148, 150.

The second scanning unit 140 shown in FIG. 5 includes a scanningmechanism to scan the document and to output the scanned result to thecontroller 142. A charge coupled device (not shown) or a contact imagesensor can be used as the second scanning unit 140.

The controller 142 detects whether the external storage unit 146 isattached to the scanning apparatus of FIG. 5, and stores the scannedresult inputted from the second scanning unit 140 in at least one of theinternal storage unit 144 and the external storage unit 146 upondetermining that the external storage unit 146 is attached to thescanning apparatus. A dynamic RAM (not shown) can be used as theinternal storage unit 144.

The controller 142 may include a converter to convert an analog signalreceived from the second scanning unit 140 into a digital signal (thescanned result). Here, the controller 142 may image-processes thescanned result. A image processor which image-processes the scannedresult can be included in the controller 142 or can be provided outsidethe controller 142. The image-processed digital signal can be stored inthe internal storage unit 144 or the external storage unit 146 as thescanned result.

The external storage unit 146 is detachably attached to the secondscanning unit 140 of FIG. 5. Here, a portable memory, for example, anytype of currently used memory, can be used as the external storage unit146. Also, a memory stick (MS), a compact flash (CF) card, a securedigital (SD) memory card, a multimedia card (MMC), a smart media (SM)card, a universal serial bus (USB) memory card, or an xD-picture cardcan be used as the external storage unit 146.

The second scanning apparatus of FIG. 5 may be connected to a pluralityof external storage units 146. The internal storage unit 144 is mountedin the scanning apparatus of FIG. 5. The controller 142 detects whetherthe external storage unit 146 is connected to the scanning apparatus,through an attachment/detachment state of the external storage unit 146,stores the scanned result in the external storage unit 146 upondetermining that the external storage unit 146 is attached to thescanning apparatus, and stores the scanned result in the internalstorage unit 144 upon determining that the external storage unit 146 isnot attached to the scanning apparatus.

The scanning apparatus of FIG. 5 is further provided with a firstinterface unit 148. The first interface unit 148 interfaces thecontroller 142 with the external storage unit 146.

The scanned result stored in the external storage unit 146 and/or theinternal storage unit 144 shown in FIG. 5 can be printed. The externalstorage unit 146 can be attached (connected) to a device, such asanother combination apparatus, another printing unit, another scanningunit, or a personal computer. The scanned result stored in the externalstorage unit 146 can be printed through the device. Also, the scannedresult stored in the internal storage unit 144 can be printed throughthe controller. When the scanning apparatus further includes the secondinterface unit 150, the controller 142 outputs the scanned result, readfrom one of the internal storage unit 144 and the external storage unit146, to a print engine through the second interface unit 150 and anoutput terminal OUT. The print engine prints the scanned result inputtedfrom the controller 142 through the second interface unit 150.

The controller 142 receives the scanned result from an externalapparatus, such as another scanning apparatus (not shown) or anothercombination apparatus having a scanner or a printer, through the firstinterface unit 148 and an input terminal IN. The controller 142 mayoutput through the second interface unit 150 the scanned result, whichis received from the external apparatus through the first interface unit148, to another external apparatus, such as the print engine, or maystore the scanned result, which is received from the external apparatusthrough the first interface unit 148, in the internal storage unit 144or the external storage unit 146.

The scanning apparatus shown in FIG. 5 may be the combination apparatusperforming the scanning operation of scanning the document and theprinting operation of printing the scanned result. In this case, thecontroller 142 controls overall functions of the combination apparatus.

A scanning and printing method performed using the scanning apparatusshown in FIG. 5 according to another embodiment of the present inventionwill be explained with reference to FIGS. 5, 6, and 7.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the method performed in the scanningapparatus shown in FIG. 5. The method includes operations 170 through176 of storing the scanned result in at least one of the internalstorage unit 144 and the external storage unit 146, operations 178through 182 of storing the scanned result, stored in the internalstorage unit 144 and read from the internal storage unit 144, in theexternal storage unit 146 according to the attachment state of theexternal storage unit 146, and an operation 184 of determining whether anext image (document) is ready to be scanned.

The scanning method of FIG. 6 is performed using the scanning apparatusof FIG. 5 as follows.

The document is scanned in the second scanning unit 140 in operation170. FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing a detail operation 170A of theoperation 170 of FIG. 6. The detail operation 170A includes operations200 through 204 of scanning the document which is ready to be scanned.

It is determined whether the document to be scanned is ready in thesecond scanning unit 140 in operation 200. The document is scanned upondetermining that the document is ready to be scanned, in operation 202.It is determined whether the scanning of the document is finished, inoperation 204. The operation 202 is performed again when the scanning ofthe document is not finished yet. The operation 172 of FIG. 6 isperformed when the scanning of the document is finished.

The controller 142 determines whether the external storage unit 146 isattached to the scanning apparatus of FIG. 5, in operation 172.

When the external storage unit 146 is attached to the scanningapparatus, the controller 142 stores the scanned result in the externalstorage unit 146 in operation 174. The scanned result, stored in theexternal storage unit 146, can be a scanned result outputted from thesecond scanning unit 140 or another scanned result which has beeninputted from the input terminal IN and stored in the internal storageunit 144.

When the external storage unit 146 is not attached to the scanningapparatus of FIG. 5, the controller 142 stores the scanned result in theinternal storage unit 144 in operation 176. The scanned result, storedin the internal storage unit 144, can be another inputted from thesecond scanning unit 140 or another scanned result which has beeninputted from the input terminal IN and stored in the internal storageunit 144 by the controller 142.

The scanning method selectively includes operations 178 through 184 ofFIG. 6 as follows.

Also, the method of the scanning and/or printing apparatus of FIG. 3 mayinclude operations 178 and 182 of the scanning method shown in FIG. 6.In this case, the controller 142 determines whether the external storageunit 146 is attached to the scanning apparatus of FIG. 5, in operation178. The operation 178 is performed when the external storage unit 146is not attached to the scanning apparatus of FIG. 5. The controller 142stores the scanned result, which has been stored in the internal storageunit 144, in the external storage unit 146 in operation 182, when theexternal storage unit 146 is attached to the scanning apparatus of FIG.5.

In order to perform operations 172 and 178, the controller 142 mayemploy a general recognizing method of recognizing the attachment stateof a memory which is able to be detachably attached to a personalcomputer. For example, a plug & plug technology to recognize anattachment of the external storage unit 146 and another technology torecognize the attachment of the external storage unit 146 using aprotocol, such as IEEE 1394, can be used as the recognizing method toperform the operations 172 and 178.

The scanning method may further include the operation 180. When theexternal storage unit 146 is attached to the scanning apparatus of FIG.5, it is determined whether the scanned result, which has been stored inthe internal storage unit 144, should be stored in the external storageunit 146, in operation 180. If the scanned result, which has been storedin the internal storage unit 144, should be stored in the externalstorage unit 146, the scanned result, which has been stored in theinternal storage unit 144, is stored in the external storage unit 146 inoperation 182.

Also, the scanning method may further include the operation 184 inaddition to the above scanning method. If the scanning method isperformed using operations 170 through 176 and 184, it is determined inoperation 184 whether a next document should be scanned after operation174 or 176. If the scanning method is performed using operations 170through 178, 182, and 184, it is determined in operation 184 whether thenext document should be scanned after operation 174 or 182. If thescanning method is performed as shown in FIG. 6, it is determined inoperation 184 whether a next document should be scanned after operation174 or 182 or when it is determined that the scanned result, which hasbeen stored in the internal storage unit 14, should not be stored in theexternal storage unit 146. If the next document needs to be scanned,operation 170 is performed.

As described above, since the scanning and/or printing apparatus andmethod of the above embodiments can scan the document and print thescanned result without being connected to the personal computer, theuser can use the first scanning unit 16 and the printing unit 18 as thecombination apparatus. Even if the first scanning unit 16 and theprinting unit 18 are spaced-apart by a distance, the user can scan thedocument and print the scanned result by moving the first storage unit10 from the first scanning unit 16 to the printing unit, for example, bydetaching the first storage unit 10 storing the scanned result from thefirst scanning unit 16 and by connecting the first storage unit 10 tothe printing unit 18, thereby providing convenience to the user. Sincethe scanned result is stored in the external storage unit 146 ratherthan in the hard disk of the personal computer, and the external storageunit 146 is detached from the scanning apparatus to print the scannedresult, it is not necessary to provide the cables to connect thescanning apparatus to the personal computer.

Since the scanned result is stored in the internal storage unit 144while the external storage unit 146 is not connected to the scanningapparatus, the scanned result, stored in the internal storage unit 144,can be stored in the external storage unit 146 later when the externalstorage unit 146 is attached to the scanning apparatus. Therefore, thedocument is scanned and the scanned result can be stored in the realtime regardless of the attachment (detachment) state of the externalstorage unit 146 to the scanning apparatus. In a case that the scanneris not connected to a plurality of personal computers, the personalcomputer, not connected to the scanning apparatus, can obtain thescanned result through the external storage unit 146. Therefore, asingle scanning apparatus can be commonly used with the personalcomputers which are not connected to the scanner, so that the personalcomputer, which is not connected to the scanning apparatus, can obtainthe scanned result through the external storage unit.

Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown anddescribed, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatchanges may be made in these embodiments without departing from theprinciples and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined inthe appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An image-forming device, comprising: an internalstorage; a scanner to scan a document to generate scanned data; a portdevice including a plurality of ports to each removably receive acorresponding portable memory stick or card; and a controller to:determine whether a portable memory stick or card is removably receivedby one of the plurality of ports of the port device at a time thescanner finishes scanning the document, control storage of the scanneddata in the portable memory stick or card when the controller determinesthe portable memory stick or card is removably received by one of theplurality of ports of the port device at the time the scanner finishesscanning the document, automatically control the scanned data to bestored in the internal storage in real-time when the controllerdetermines a portable memory stick or card is not removably received byone of the plurality of ports of the port device at the time the scannerfinishes scanning the document, control the scanned data, stored in theinternal storage when the controller determined a portable memory stickor card was not removably received by one of the plurality of ports ofthe port device at the time the scanner finished scanning the document,to be stored in a portable memory stick or card when the controllersubsequently determines the portable memory stick or card is removablyreceived by one of the plurality of ports of the port device, andcontrol selection of one or more of a plurality of scanned data filesstored in the removably received portable memory stick or card or tocontrol deletion of one or more of the plurality of the scanned datafiles stored in the removably received portable memory stick or card. 2.The image forming device of claim 1, wherein the controller is tocontrol the storing of the scanned data in an image data format in theremovably received portable memory stick or card.
 3. The image formingdevice of claim 1, further comprising a printer to print an image on aprint medium; and a display device to display information about theplurality of the scanned data files stored in the removably receivedportable memory stick or card.
 4. The image forming device of claim 1,wherein when the removably received portable memory stick or card havingthe scanned data stored therein is detached from the port device and issubsequently removably received by one of the plurality of ports of theport device, the controller is to control reading the scanned data fromthe removably received portable memory stick or card, and to controldirect printing of the scanned data read from the removably receivedportable memory stick or card using a printer without receiving printinginstructions from a host computer.
 5. The image forming device of claim1, further comprising an input device to receive a user input to selector delete wherein the input device is to receive another user input toselect to the one of the plurality of the scanned data files or todelete the one or more of the plurality of the scanned data files storedin the removably received portable memory stick or card.
 6. A method foruse in an image forming device having a scanner, an internal storage,and a port device including a plurality of ports to each removablyreceive a corresponding portable memory stick or card, the methodcomprising: scanning a document to generate scanned data; determiningwhether at least one portable memory stick or card is removably receivedby at least one of the plurality of ports of the port device at a timethe scanning the document is finished; and automatically storing thescanned data in the internal storage in real-time when the determiningdetermines a portable memory stick or card is not removably received byone of the plurality of ports of the port device, subsequentlydetermining a portable memory stick or card is removably received by oneof the plurality of ports of the port device, and controlling thescanned data, stored in the internal storage when the determiningdetermined a portable memory stick or card was not removably received byone of the plurality of ports of the port device at the time thescanning the document finished, to be stored in the portable memorystick or card removably received by one of the plurality of ports of theport device.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the storing the scanneddata comprises: storing the scanned data in an image data format in theremovably received portable memory stick or card.
 8. The method of claim6, further comprising: displaying information about the plurality of thescanned data files stored in the removably received portable memorystick or card.
 9. The method of claim 6, further comprising: when theremovably received portable memory stick or card having the scanned datastored therein is detached from one of the plurality of ports of theport device and subsequently removably received by one of the pluralityof ports of the port device, controlling reading the scanned data fromthe removably received portable memory stick or card, to control directprinting of the scanned data read from the removably received portablememory stick or card using a printer without receiving printinginstructions from a host computer.
 10. The image forming device of claim1, wherein the controller is to control the storing the scanned data ina document data format.
 11. The image forming device of claim 1,wherein: the plurality of ports include a plurality of universal serialbus (USB) ports to each removably receive a corresponding portable USBmemory card; and the controller is to control the storing of the scanneddata in a data format in the plurality of portable USB memory cards. 12.The method of claim 6, wherein the storing the scanned data comprises:storing the scanned data in a document data format.
 13. The method ofclaim 6, wherein: the plurality of ports include a plurality ofuniversal serial bus (USB) ports to each removably receive acorresponding portable USB memory card; and the storing the scanned datacomprises storing the scanned data in a data format in the plurality ofportable USB memory cards.
 14. The method of claim 6, furthercomprising: when the scanned data is stored in the removably receivedportable memory stick or card, reading the scanned data stored in theremovably received portable memory stick or card and printing thescanned data read from the removably received portable memory stick orcard.
 15. The image forming device of claim 1, further comprising adisplay device and an input device, wherein: when the scanned datacomprises a plurality of scanned results and is stored in the removablyreceived portable memory stick or card, the input device is to receive auser input to selectively search, select and delete scanned resultsstored in the removably received portable memory stick or card while thescanned results are displayed on the display device.
 16. The method ofclaim 6, further comprising receiving a user input to select or deletethe one or more of the plurality of scanned data files stored in theremovably received portable memory stick or card.